The Last Of Us New Character "Bill" Revealed At Comic-Con 2012 Panel

Review

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Hundreds of fans at Comic-Con 2012 lined up in Hall F to wait in line for the chance to go behind the scenes with Naughty Dog's The Last of Us. One of the first pieces of "exclusive behind the scene details" was the introduction of a brand new character, Bill. He is voiced and mocapped, by W. Earl Bron. The Sean Bean look a like named Bill owes Joel a favor, a big favor. He and Ellie need a working car, although he doesn't say why. Bill, who lacks the parts, sends Joel and Ellie on a gather/scavenger quest in Bill's Safe House.

The Comic-Con panel also revealed other tidbits of into about Naughty Dog's game. The zombie infection in The Last of Us is rooted in reality. Apparently there's an ant that can be infected with a fungus that will control it, kill it, and then spread the fungus, infecting more ants. The folks at Naughty Dog wondered what would happen if this fungus affected humans. Thanks to a fan question, we now know this fungus won't affect any other creature besides humans.

A gripping narrative, the top tech, and some of the best actors ensure Ellie and Joel will be some of the best developed characters in the game. But it was also important to have enemy AI that reflected the same attention to detail that went into the good guys. When an enemy is injured his comrades will act accordingly, taking cover, attempting to provide aid, etc.

The importance of character progression was key to Naughty Dog's design. Some of minds behind the game noted a few pieces of media that helped them set the tone, source like: "The Road" and No Country For Old Men. They wanted their game to have violence with consequence, like a Coen Brothers film. This seems like an attainable goal for a survival action game. Your primary goal is survival; not to collect coins, defeat bosses, or any of the other tropes you see in games.